Standards Not Tiers

Standards-Not-Tiers opposes the whole reorganisation plan and works with local SOS groups in helping with information and publicising their campaigns. key to this work is understanding an knowledge of the DCSF Guide to Closing a Maintained School (01/08).

Ironically, up until the 8th September the only area where there was no active SOS unit was Ventnor, the area where SNT began in 2005. This was largely because of the existance of SNT in the town and the fact that primary reorganisation was seen as necessary and not part of the overall reorganisation. All that has now changed with Ventnor becoming an example of some of the worst misinformation and poor or non-existant consultation on the Island. 

Active SNT/SOS Campaigns:

Proposals for a Voluntary Aided School in Ventnor by the LA and Diocese are slammed by SNT as un-democratic and unfair.

Alan Wells' statement that parents in Ventnor will have a choice as to where they send their children, when a single ecumenical voluntary aided school is formed, is cynical and deeply flawed because his suggestions are to use Wroxall primary which will close when the new Godshill school is built and Niton, which does not have space for even her next door neighbours in Chale, who have been told that they will be sent to Brighstone, let alone have sufficient space to accommodate Ventnor children. 

NASS agrees with SNT that educationally there are no merits to the plan and a larger school is statistically less likely to produce good results that smaller schools and in fact the current small school are already producing excellent key stage 1 results.

We need to question their motives. What is to be gained by the move? 

Joining St Margaret's CE and St Boniface CE would produce a school that is currently 1FE, 24 per year group or 120 roughly - still not small in national terms but probably acceptable to the local population.

Including St Wilfrid's RC will make the new school 2FE and 47 per year group initially, rising to 53 by 2018, 371 in total.

It is very important to note that SNT is not opposed to faith-schools.  Our members include committed Christians and many of us hold our own deeply religious views.

Our objection is to the Voluntary Aided nature of the new school. We demand that a Voluntary Controlled school is established instead.

Comments made by The Rev G Morris through the South Wight Chronicle in March seem now to be hypocritical and very misleading indeed. The more recent, consultation meeting, letter to parents and proposal first issued at public meetings in July and subtly different from the proposal issued on September 8th, have all been lacking in detail, unbalanced and in our opinion biased.  Amongst a long list of other things, an important ommission from this proposal is that this new school will be a voluntary aided school.

Balanced information means showing both sides of the argument, not selling the preferred option and ignoring the possible problems.

Despite statutory guidance, Ventnor Town Council, The Early Years Unit and pre-schools, parents and many other community bodies that will be affected by the proposals have not been properly consulted.

SNT have issued an information leaflet that explains the proposals and offers answers to some of the questions you may have.

It is vital that everyone asks questions and writes a response.